Bottle crate



Y June 14, 1938. P. N. cqRTls 2,120,600

BOTTLE CRATE Filed July 23, 1 936 Mr- Q Patented June 14, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOTTLE CRATE Application July 23, 1936, Serial No. 92,171

1 Claim.

This invention relates to crates or boxes in which milk bottles and other similar articles are packed and handled. Such crates or boxes are commonly subject to quite rough handling and it has been heretofore proposed to provide cushioning means between the bottles therein to reduce breakage thereof.

It is the general object of my invention to provide an improved construction by which cushlO ioning elements may be easily and economically installed on the separator bars of the crate and will be reliably retained in operative position.

My invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawing in which Fig. 1 is a partial plan view of a bottle crate;

Fig. 2 is a partial end elevation, taken along the line 22 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of a separator bar, looking in the direction of the arrow 3 in, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view, taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a cushion element; and

Fig. 6 is a similar view of a different form of 30 cushion element.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown parts of a milk bottle crate including side walls Ill, end walls I I and separator bars I2 and I3. The bars I2 run crosswise between the side walls I0,

35 and the bars I3 run lengthwise between the end walls II. The separator bars I2 and I3 may be secured to the side and end walls in any convenient manner, as by rivets I4 (Fig. 2).

As shown in the drawing, each separator bar 40 I2 or I3 comprises a series of successive flat portions 20, with intervening twisted portions 2|, so that the flat portions are alternately in horizontal and vertical planes. The vertically disposed ilat portions 20 are provided with elongated 45 slots 22 (Fig. 3), and cushion elements or plugs 24 are inserted in these slots. The plugs 24 are made of soft rubber or other similar cushion material, and are provided with upper and lower grooves 25 and 26, as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

The plugs 24 may be conveniently manufactured by forming elongated strips of rubber having the H cross section shown in Fig. 5, and by thereafter cutting the strips into short pieces substantially corresponding in length to the slots 22. 5

The plugs 24 having been thus formed, they are inserted manually or otherwise through the slots 22 and thereafter occupy the positions indicated in Figs. 1 to 3, with portions of each cushioning element projecting substantially beyond both ver- 10 tical faces of the fiat vertical portion 20 of the separator bar I2 or I3 in which it is inserted.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a form of plug or cushioning element in which the enlarged ends and connecting portion are all of substantially cirl5 cular cross section. When this form of plug is used, the shape of the opening which receives the plug will be made to correspond to the cross section of the plug.

It will be evident that the plugs 24 when thus 20 inserted are very firmly held from displacement, and that they will accurately engage and space the bottles supported in the crate and will also effectively cushion the same.

Having thus described my invention and the 25 advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claim, but what I claim is:

In a bottle crate comprising an enclosing casing and intersecting separator bars mounted 3 therein and defining bottle positions in said casing, that improvement which consists in providing each of said separator bars with longitudinally spaced flat vertical portions of single thickness and having horizontal openings therethrough, and in providing soft rubber cushioning elements mounted on said bars in said openings, each cushioning element being substantially H- shaped in cross section, and being mounted in one of said openings with its reduced middle por- 40 tion in said opening, and with its larger end portions disposed at the ends of the opening and so proportioned in size as to permit ready insertion of the element in the opening, said element projecting beyond and overlying the adjacent vertical faces of the associated separator bar and engaging and cushioning a bottle positioned adjacent thereto by said bars.

PHILIP N. CURTIS. 

